N. ORD.-ANACARDIACEZ. 39 
Series.—LOBADIUM, RAF. 
GENUS.—RHUS., 
SEX, SYST.—PENTANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
RHUS AROMATICA. 
FRAGRANT SUMACH. 
SYN.—RHUS AROMATICA, AIT.; RHUS CANADENSIS, MARSH.; RHUS 
SUAVEOLENS, AIT.; BETULA TRIPHYLLA, THUN.; TURPINIA PU- 
BESCENS, AND GLABRA, AND LOBADIUM AROMATICUM, RAF. 
COM. NAMES.—FRAGRANT, OR SWEET-SCENTED SUMACH, STINK BUSH, 
SKUNK BUSH. 
A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH ROOT BARK OF RHUS AROMATICA, AIT. 
Description.—This straygling but very pretty bush usually grows to a height 
of about 4 feet. Leaves 3-foliate, slightly sweet-scented; /eaflets rhombic-ovate, 
prominently ribbed, crenate or cut-toothed; the middle leaflet broadly cuneate at 
the base, and narrowing gradually to its insertion at the end of the common 
petiole; all sessile, and coriaceous when old. Jxflorescence single or clustered, 
scaly bracted, catkin-like spikes; sca/es reddish, and furnished with copious hairs 
upon the border; flowers polygamo-dicecious, prefolial. ypogynous disk 5-parted, 
large; odes strongly reniform, the hilum of each almost entirely surrounding the 
base of the filament inserted under it. /yuz¢ similar to that of Rhus glabra, but 
somewhat flattened ; zzé//e¢ smooth, depressed. 
History and Habitat.—This least poisonous of all our indigenous species of 
Rhus, is common in dry, rocky soils, where it flowers in April or May, before the 
appearance of the leaves. It is the finest species to cultivate, its dense foliage 
becoming still more so, and the leaves enlarging and varying beautifully. It was 
introduced into England as an ornamental shrub in 1759. 
The previous medical uses of the berries were the same as those of #. glabra. 
This fruit is termed the squaw-berry, because the Indian women gather large 
quantities, which are dried and used for food. The berries are excessively sour, 
but very much used while fresh during the summer months; when macerated they 
make a pleasant drink. The wood is very tough, far more so than the willow, and 
is used by the Indians in Utah, Arizona, Southern California, and New Mexico for 
making into baskets. This wood exhales a peculiar odor, which is always recog- 
nizable about the camps of these Indians, and never leaves articles made from it.* 
* Dr. Edward Palmer in Am. Wat., 1878, 597. 
